Chapter Four | I Want You Marianne

Chapter Four | I Want You Marianne

Marianne

My heart was beating so fast that I thought for a moment that it would jump out of my chest. The words Alessandro just said kept ringing in my ears like a loud bell. “I came for Marianne.”

Mom looked like someone had just slapped her hard across the face. Her mouth opened and closed but no sound came out at first. Her eyes were wide with shock and pain written all over. The plate in her hand slipped and fell with a loud crash but she didn’t even look down.

“What did you just say?” Mom finally whispered, her voice shaking badly. She stepped closer to him, her hands reaching out like she was begging. “Alessandro, you sure do not mean that. You can't say that to my face when I’m right here. I’ve been waiting for you all this time. I can give you everything you need but Marianne?” She paused and scoffed. “She's just a young girl and doesn’t understand men like you.”

Alessandro didn’t even turn to look at her. His dark eyes stayed fixed on me, intense and hungry, like he was seeing straight into my soul. He stood up slowly from the chair, an intimidating aura flooding around him. “Elena, stop embarrassing yourself. I didn’t come here for you. I only came for her. For Marianne.”

I felt like the floor was moving under my feet. My hands were shaking so much that I had to grip the edge of the counter to steady myself. “You are crazy,” I said, my voice coming out weak and trembling. “You can’t just come into our house and say things like that. I am your niece. My father just died and you are here talking about wanting me? This is wrong. Very wrong.”

He took one step closer to me. Then another. His long sleek black hair falling a little over his forehead as he moved. Up close he looked even more dangerous and handsome. His smell, that expensive cologne, filled my nose and made my head feel light. I wanted to run away but my legs refused to move.

“I know what I want,” he said quietly, “I’ve been watching you for a long time. My men sent me your pictures and from the first day I saw them, I knew. You are strong. You fought for your father when no one else did. You carry too much on your small shoulders and want that fire. I want you, Marianne and not as family but as mine.”

Mom made a small broken sound behind him, tears running down her face now. “Alessandro please. Don’t do this to me. I can make you happy. Forget about Marianne. She's too young for you.”

He finally glanced at her, but his eyes were cold. “Go to your room, Elena. This isn't about you. It has never been about you.”

Mom stood there for a few seconds, her shoulders shaking. Then she turned and walked out of the kitchen, and now it was just me and him.

I pressed my back harder against the counter, my chest rising and falling fast. “Why are you doing this?” I asked, trying to sound brave even though I felt scared and confused at the same time. “I don’t want this. I don’t want you. I just want to grieve my father in peace.”

Alessandro moved even closer until there was almost no space between us. He didn’t touch me but I could feel the heat from his body. His eyes looked deep into mine. “You’re different, you know?. Even when you're angry and hurting, there is fire in you. I can see it and I want to own that fire. I want to break down every wall you have until you understand you belong with me.”

My breath was coming fast now. A part of me wanted to push him away but another part wanted to pull him closer. In short, the war inside me was tearing me apart.

“I hate what you’re doing to my family,” I said, weakly.

Alessandro reached into the inside pocket of his jacket and pulled out a folded paper. He held it out to me. “Read this.”

My hands were shaking as I took the document. It was old, the paper yellowed at the edges. I opened it slowly, my eyes scanning the words, and my stomach dropped. It was signed by my father nineteen years ago. It gave Alessandro full rights over me — his child — in the event of my father’s death. It said my father believed Alessandro could take better care of me than anyone else.

“This… this can’t be real,” I whispered, my voice breaking as tears started filling my eyes. “My father would never do this. He would never give me away like some property.”

Alessandro watched me closely, his face calm but his eyes burning. “He did it because he knew the truth. He knew he was weak and he couldn’t protect you or give you the life you deserved. He came to me when you were just a baby and asked me to take care of you if anything happened to him. He trusted me more than anyone, even more than your mother.”

I shook my head hard, tears spilling down my cheeks now. “No, you're lying and twisting everything. My father loved me. He would never sign something like this.”

He stepped closer, his body almost touching mine. “I’m not lying, principessa. This document is legal. It's a binding. Your father believed I could give you a better life and now here I’m here to fulfill that promise. You're coming with me.”

I stared at him, my whole body shaking. The paper felt like a heavy stone in my hands, like a chain wrapping around me. My father’s signature was there, clear as day. Nineteen years ago before everything fell apart, before he got bedridden with cancer. And before he found himself rolling in debts.

“You can’t force me,” I said, but I couldn't deny the fact that I was scared “I’m not going anywhere with you.”

Alessandro smiled slowly, flashing that dangerous smile that made my stomach twist. “You don’t have a choice, Marianne. The document says you are mine now and I always keep what is mine.”

Everywhere was quiet now except for the silent sobs from my mother who was upstairs crying. My father was gone forever and this man, this dangerous man who called himself my uncle, had just shown me proof that my own father had given me to him.

I didn’t know what to do. I didn’t know what to say. All I knew was that my life was no longer mine. Alessandro Santiago had come for me and according to that paper, I was already his.